Page 49 of Didn't See That Coming

“Huh? What for?”

Her mouth purses. “I was there the whole time, in class, watching the whole ‘Crazy Kiki’ thing catching fire, and I never did anything to stop it. I just sat there and sort of…hoped it would go away on its own. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Zoelle says. “We should’ve said something.”

“We should’ve,” Triss says. “We were all too chickenshit to say anything.”

My throat closes up with tears, and I have to suck in a breath very slowly through my mouth. I swallow hard. “It’s okay,” I say thickly. And it really is. I mean, being called Crazy Kiki is definitely not okay, but sitting here and hearing these girls say they’re sorry is so healing, a large part of me wants to cry and cling to them. I clear my throat. “Anyway, so how can I help with your profiles?”

“Well, given there are so many new sign-ups, we want to make sure ours will stand out,” Peishan says.

“She wants to make sure she’s matched with Liam,” Zoellesays.

“Ahem, me too,” Triss says.

Peishan glares at her, and the two of them narrow their eyes at each other for a few moments before they both double over laughing.

“You two are such dorks,” Renata says.

“Hey, it’s not a crime to be into the same guy,” Triss says.

I shrug, my cheeks turning warm. I don’t know how to feel about them liking Liam, but it’s really cool to see that Triss and Peishan are still friends regardless of their feelings for Liam. I need to follow in their footsteps and be as gracious as they’re being. “Okay,” I say. “Honestly, I don’t really know what would appeal to the people running the app, but we can at least make sure your answers are really interesting.”

“Yay!” Triss claps. “Okay, can we start?”

A server arrives with trays of iced coffees with palm sugar syrup and plates piled high with croffles.

“We ordered the same drink for everyone,” Zoelle says. She glances at me. “You drink coffee, right?”

“Of course!” I grab one of the cups and take a sip of the rich, strong coffee. Happiness blooms inside me, a warm flower. Good coffee and warm pastries and a tableful of giggly girls. I never want this afternoon to end.

We spend over two hours there, taking our time to pick out the most flattering photos of Triss, Peishan, and Renata for their profiles. Then we go through each question, and the proposed answers start off serious but soon morph into jokey ones, which have us all cackling.

Q:What do you look for in a match?

Triss:Liam.

Peishan:Hey! You can’t just say “Liam”! You need to come up with a description!

Triss:Okay, however you want to describe Liam, that’s what I’m looking for in a match.

Zoelle:Sooo desperate. Me, I want hip dips.

Everyone:Hip dips??

Zoelle:I have a thing for them! Stop being so judgey!

Q:What is the most interesting thing about you?

Renata:I’m into scuba diving.

Me:Ooh, that’s really cool!

Renata:Yeah, my family and I go to Bali once a month to dive. I’m competing in—

Triss:Okay, okay. If you let her, she’ll spend the whole day talking about diving. Just write down “Diver.” And that’s enough.

Me:Haha, okay. But I would love to hear more about it some other time! What about you, Triss? What’s the most interesting thing about you?

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